Look here For the article Click on 'More' to get the full article. I mean meth lab is illegal and he should go to jail, but is it needed to say he was making chemical weapons? Your thought, please do not bring your own thoughts on the Patriot Act Into THIS thread! [you have the polit. forum for that]
that does seem a little extreme, maybe thats because im used to meth labs in my city and someone's hosue getting busted into almost everyday. iJon
Wow, a pipebomb is now a WMD and does anyone else think this definition of "chemical weapon" could be any more vague: "any substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury" Lethal
So those nail clipper the security guard stole from me at the airport was a weapon of mass destruction in their eyes? I'm still trying to figure out how they thought I'd use it to take over the airplane...it was my favorite nail clipper, too, it survived a good year in the army and two years of college and I lost it to a security guard who thought it was a deadly weapon!
yes, this has been happening constantly since 9/11. Just about everyone who commits a crime is now labeled with some sort of "terrorism" or "domestic terrorism" or something... it's absurd and an abuse of power and Ashcroft needs to be reigned in by the courts and congress. Because before long it won't just be criminals being prosecuted for these "crimes". If existing laws on meth labs aren't enough, then change the laws and make harsher penalties, don't invoke some unrelated laws into it... the patriot act needs to be totally revoked and rewritten, if it needs to be on file at all. It should ONLY apply to real terrorism, if it's to be left in place... Which I don't think it should be. Emergency powers after a terrorist attack are how most of the greatest governments in history have gone corrupt and collapsed. I'm not being dramatic-- history speaks for itself. pnw
Amazing. They don't even care that they're abusing their power. They think they're within their rights. http://www.draftclark2004.com
... This isn't a lawsuit... This is a federal charge where they used the 'terriost' clauses against common criminals.
YEAH!!! LET'S GET THOSE ****ING TERRORISTS!!!! and while we're at it, let's shoot ourselves in the foot by reliquishing all of our freedoms to the federal government, I hope everyone realizes that as soon as we get a power hungry greedy government that is interested in abusing it's power as much as possible, we as a nation and individuals are screwed
" Prosecutor Jerry Wilson says he isn't abusing the law, which defines chemical weapons of mass destruction as "any substance that is designed or has the capability to cause death or serious injury" and contains toxic chemicals" --I'd like to see what happens if someone brings criminal charges against Phillip Morris. They should call the national guard out to raid the factory, maybe shoot a few employees while they're at it. Obviously, according to the Patriot Act, which is Always Right(tm), these factories are huge death plants, spewing out chemical weapons in little white filtered tubes. Now available in regular or menthol...
this is absurd... regardless of what you think of the Patriot Act as it was intended, uses such as this are NOT how it was intended. Ashcroft needs to be removed NOW before he can do more damage...
We've been heading in this direction for years, guys. The War on Drugs was passe, so they needed the War on Terrorism to take away more of our freedom.
Well, I just hope this isn't a trend that will continue. Don't we as a people have a right and a duty to remove people of government who abuse their powers like this?
yes we do as stated in the Declaration of Independence. However, one of the first things the rich white males did after they "won" the revolutionary war was make doing so punishable by death. Aaaaahhh, smell that? That's power corrupting! On the chemical weapons front, nearly every American citizen has the ability to become a chemical weapons factory. If "they" wanted to, "they" could bust you for terrorism for having a pair of common cleaning chemical. Bleach plus Ammonia = Ammonium Chloride...and it'll kill ya. So watch your step, and like Britney says, just trust the president no matter what he says or does and just support that.
yep, one of the founding fathers, i think it was Jefferson, said that an effective government would have a revolution every 10 years. It wasn't long before that became a new president after every 4/8, which is supposed to assure us against corruption. Unfortuately, both parties that ever hold office are terribly corrupt, as are all candidates for president. It has to be so, because Big Business are the ones who pump all the money into lobbying, organized corruption, etc... They buy every one of our public officials, the higher positions they buy the candidates years in advance, to get a good hold. If we as Americans see a government that's entirely bribed and controlled by commerce, we organize fund-drives as people and send military aid as a nation. The United Nations try to instigate diplomacy. But we cannot see the same hideous parallels in our own government. So we need to stand up to not just the corrupt government but the conglomorations that ensure solid future corruption. Unfortunately, and I use the French Revolution as reference, people have to be pretty heavily abused to actually form any effective rebellion. So, we have a long way to go before we hit rock bottom. Especially with the conservative crowd out there, I think about 60% of the country, cheering stuff like this on. These are the manipulatable that are, in turn, owned by corporations since they are made into valuable consumers at about age 4. Meanwhile, our government is prepared to kill every one of her citizens if need be, to quell any rebellion. We have about the most unilaterally powerful armies on the face of the earth, and it doesn't get any smaller within our borders. We are trapped, solidly. Only think to do is to hope more people wake up, and quickly. If we can fight back at this stage, it will be a hundred times easier than fighting back in a hundred years. And that is why, in case anyone is wondering, "nuts" like us have to be outraged at minor things like this that don't affect us. Certainly no one likes meth makers, but they have protections too, under a system that's held good for some 200 years. We don't need a patriot act, or a homeland security department. We need to recognize the genius of the system envisioned when we as a people broke away from our oppressors, and hold to that. The world's not changing for the worst-- we are. i shouldn't go on soapboxes when i'm stoned-- lol pnw
I'd much rather have a pimp in office (Clinton) than an idiot who seems to not have taken the social studies class on the Constitution (Bush) anyday. And this is coming from a Republican. Damn, Bush makes me feel sick to be a Republican.
-paulwhannel Don't forget that along with this, there were supposed to be three major parties to go along with the three branches of government - check and balances.
Actually, the founding fathers wanted 0 political parties. They wanted our leaders to be elected as individuals, not as parties. Unfortunately, the founding fathers themselves split into factions, which eventually became formalized parties.